The sun and stars are seemingly inexhaustible sources of energy. That energy is the result of nuclear reactions, in which matter is converted to energy. We have been able to harness that mechanism and regularly use it to generate power. Presently, nuclear energy provides for approximately 16% of the world's electricity. Today's nuclear reactors work on the principle of nuclear fission. Nuclear power will be available much after other energy sources have been depleted because they don't need to use as much fuel as other forms of energy. They don't pollute the air and environment as much as coal or oil plants do. There are many advantages of producing nuclear energy rather than using other forms of energy.
The Earth has limited supplies of coal and oil. Nuclear power plants could still produce electricity after coal and oil become scarce. Nuclear power plants need less fuel than ones that burn fossil fuels. One ton of uranium produces more energy than is produced by several million tons of coal or several million barrels of oil. Most nuclear reactors only need to be refueled every 18 months or so. At each refueling, a third of the fuel is removed and stored as waste, and new fuel is inserted in its place. The new fuel costs about $40 to $60 million per refueling. By contrast, a similarly sized natural gas power plant can consume up to $600 million in natural gas over the same time period. A similarly sized coal plant would require at least a dozen large dump trucks full of coal each day. The fission of one atom of uranium produces ten million times more energy than the combustion of one carbon atom from coal.
Coal and oil burning plants pollute the air. Well-operated nuclear power plants do not release contaminants into the environment. In coal production, mining creates environmental problems like the acid runoff from coal mining sites. At the site where we burn coal, nitrous oxides and sulfur oxides are released, as well as other matter.
